Floor polishing attachment for suction cleaners



Nov. 10, 1953 2,658,226

N. W. LA BRIERE FLOOR POLISHING ATTACHMENT FOR SUCTION CLEANERS Filed June 3, 1949 ATTORNEY.

Patented Nov. 10, 1953 FLOOR POLISHING ATTACHMENT FOR SUCTION CLEANERS Nelson W. La Briere, Canton, Ohio, assignor to The Hoover Company, North Canton, Ohio, a

corporation of Ohio Application June 3, 1949, Serial No. 96,894

3 Claims.

This invention relates to a floor polishing attachment for suction cleaners and more particularly to means for preventing the usual rear wheels of the suction cleaner from marking or marring the polished surface of the floor.

Polishing attachments for suction cleaners are well known in the art. The usual agitator or brush is removed from the suction nozzle and an attachment applied thereto in the form of a large polishing brush which raises the front wheels of the cleaner free of the floor.

However, prior polishing attachments for suction cleaners made no provision for preventing the rear wheels of the cleaner from marking or marring the polished surface produced by the attachment. As a result such polishing attachments have not been'satisfactory and have not been generally accepted.

When a polishing attachment is applied to a suction cleaner no suction is necessary. As a result it has been proposed to block off the exhaust nozzle of the cleaner to reduce the load on the motor. However, it is necessary that some air be circulated through the cleaner to prevent the usual rubber agitator driving belt from becoming hot and deteriorating.

According to the present invention a cover plate is provided for the exhaust outlet to block off the major portion of the air being handled by the fan but having louvers permitting a limited circulation of air and a polishing or non-marking support is attached to the cover plate for raising the rear wheels from the floor to prevent them from marking or marring the polished surface.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent as the description proceeds when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a suction cleaner with the polishing attachment of this invention applied thereto; and

Figure 2 is a plan view of one form of the nonmarking support for raising the rear wheels from the surface being polished.

Referring to Fig. l, the suction cleaner to which this invention is applied comprises a main frame It including a suction nozzle I I at its forward end and a propelling handel I2 pivotally attached to its rear end. The main frame houses the usual suction fan driven by a motor housed within the hood I3 with a handle control release pedal I4 extending through one side thereof.

A rotary agitator (not shown) is usually positioned in the nozzle l I and is normally driven by a belt from the pulley I5 carried by the fan shaft. The suction passageway in which the belt and pulley is normally placed is closed by a removable cover plate (not shown) since it has been removed for the application of a polisher attachment of this invention. Normally, the fan produces a suction at the nozzle I I and discharges through an exhaust outlet I6.

The cleaner is normally mounted for ambulatory movement on front wheels I I and rear wheels I8 movably mounted relative to the main frame for adjusting the position of the nozzle relative to the surface upon which the cleaner rests in a manner known to the art.

In converting the suction cleaner above described to a floor polisher the suction passageway cover plate and the usual agitator are removed. A polishing attachment in the form of an attachment 20 is detachably secured to the nozzle I I and rotatably carries a large polishing brush I9 driven by a belt 2| extending over the pulley I 5. The polishing brush I9 is of sufficiently large diameter and of sufficient stiffness to raise the front Wheels I1 from the floor being polished.

In order to reduce the load on the fan the exhaust opening I6 is closed by a plate 22 having a louver 23 to provide for limited circulation of air to prevent the cleaner from overheating. The closure plate 22 is attached to the exhaust opening I-Ii by the bolts usually used in attaching a filter bag to the cleaner.

The plate 22 is extended downwardly at 24 and is provided 'with a non-marking, non-marring support in the form of a roller 25 to raise the rear wheels from the surface being polished.

While the roller 25 has been shown in the drawings it is merely an example of the broader aspects of this invention. Any polishing or nonmarking support may be utilized.

In the arrangement shown the roller 25 may be of wood or other material having a nonmarring or polishing covering applied.

Preferably, however, the roller 25 is made of solid rubber 30 as shown in Fig. 2. A cadmium plated pin 3| is forced axially through teh center of the solid rubber roller 30 and has pintles 32 supported in ears 33 extending rearwardly from the extension 24. Spacing washers 34 are provided for spacing the ends of the rubber roller 30 from the ears 33 to provide a good thrust bearing surface.

By a non-marking or a non-marring support,

for ambulatory movement raised upwardlyv from the surface being polished by the polishing;

brush and by a non-marring support secured to the cover plate for theCXhBuStTlOZZlB;

While I have shown and described but-asingle embodiment of my invention it is to be understood that this embodiment 181130: be--,;taken as:

illustrative only and not in a limiting sense. I

do not wish to be limited to the particular structure shown and described but to include all equivalent variations thereof except as limited by the scope of the claims.-

Iclaim:

1. In a suction cleaner having front-and rear wheels for supporting-it forambulatory movement, a downwardlyfacing suction nozzle, a power transmitting belt extending. into said nozzle, an exhaust port at the rear-thereof, and a rotary agitator normally supported. in said nozzle, that improvement which comprises, a large diameter polishing brush irotatably sup:

ported in said nozzle in place of said agitator, said brush being formed to be driven by said power transmitting belt, and being of suincient diameter and of sufficient stiffness to support said front wheels above the surface to be pol ished, a louvered closure plate for said exhaust port, said closure platehaving aportion extending downwardly below said-exhaust port towards said rear supporting wheels and an auxiliary non-marring support attached to said downward extending portion for supporting said rear wheels outof :contact with the surface being polished.

2. The combination of claim 1 in which said auxiliarysupport'is-in the form of a nonmarring roller journaled to said closure plate.

3. The-combination of claim 2 in which said roller is; made of solid rubber with its shaft forced axially through its axial center.

NELSON W. LA BRIERE.

References Cited inthe'flle of this patent UNITED STATES PA'IENTB Number Name Date 1,405,095 Brachhausen Jan. 31, 1922 1,541,328- Clarkson-Jones June 9; 1925 1,570,739 Gilliland Jan. 26, 1926 1,731,140 Lang Oct. 8,- 1929 1,853,047 Hampson- Apr. 12, 1932 2,175,646 Replogle Oct. 10,1939 

